A break is a rental-history event, not a court record
That is the first thing to separate. A broken lease means you ended a lease before its term. It may have been by agreement, by buyout, or by leaving.
An eviction is a court process with a filing and possibly a judgment. Different source, different weight, and broken-lease locating treats them as two records rather than one. See broken lease vs eviction for the full distinction.
The balance is the real variable
Properties screening a broken lease are mostly asking one question: did it leave money owed?
| Version | How it usually reads |
|---|---|
| Break with zero balance, mutual termination | Cleanest — some properties barely weight it |
| Break with a balance, paid or settled | Middle — documentation helps |
| Break with an open balance in collection | Heaviest — some properties require it cleared |
If you paid or settled, get it in writing. A payoff letter or paid-in-full statement is the document that changes a claim into a fact, and properties that will consider a resolved balance almost always want to see one.
Income is the lever
Most Dallas properties want 3x the rent in gross monthly income. Some run 2.5x. A few run 2x.
The risk a property is pricing when it sees a broken lease is a payment risk, and income is the direct answer to a payment risk. A renter with a two-year-old break who clears 3x comfortably has a real list. The same renter at 2.2x does not, and it is the multiple doing that.
What the prior landlord says still matters
Many Dallas applications ask for prior landlord contact details and some properties call. A landlord who confirms you gave notice, left the unit clean, and settled the balance is worth more than any letter you write yourself.
What to have ready
- Roughly when the break happened
- Whether it left a balance, and whether that balance is open, settled, or paid
- Written proof if it is settled or paid
- Your gross monthly income and target rent
- Prior landlord contact details, if you have them
What we do with it
We work only from what you tell us. We never obtain, request, receive, or store your screening report.
Your account goes against our own dated database of which management companies work with a broken lease, which require a zero balance, and which weigh it against income. Back comes a list of properties whose stated criteria fit, each with the income multiple, deposit terms, and total monthly cost, carrying the date we verified it.
That is broken-lease locating. It is free, and we describe what properties require rather than promising approval.